Fighting for Fenwick's fate

The 67-year-old Fenwick Pier will be demolished by the end of next year to make way for a fire station, resulting in the eviction of the pier's existing tenants, including the popular Italian restaurant Gia Trattoria Italiana.

This has put Gianni Caprioli, owner of the restaurant, at a loss as Fenwick Pier is basically home to him - he works and sometimes even sleeps in his restaurant.

He established his restaurant there in 2012 because of the pier's long history and his view that the building has a unique "soul."

The Caprioli restaurant and 10 shops will be closed by the end of next year as the Servicemen's Guides Association, which operates the premises, must make way for the Kong Wan Fire Station.

The association said it was told out of the blue late last year of the government's intention to resume the site to relocate a fire station. The Town Planning Board approved the redevelopment plan in 2016.

Fenwick Pier has been in operation on the coast of Wan Chai since 1953. Caprioli said the site serves as a resting and welcoming spot for sailors across the world, ranging from Thailand to Vietnam.

"Fenwick Pier is dedicated to sailors, it means it is dedicated to people," Caprioli said.

The Italian-born Caprioli loves Hong Kong and says he wants to show visiting sailors the special and international city through his restaurant.

One of his favorite memories about his restaurant is when female sailors finally get to put on lipstick and have a good meal in his restaurant after traveling at sea for more than six months.

"To lose Fenwick Pier for Hong Kong is like losing a historical monument," Caprioli said in response to the possible eviction. "This is a place that accepts everyone and this is a place with a soul that should still live."

A former receptionist of Fenwick Pier, Joy King Lopez, worked behind the information desk from 1995 for about a year.

One of her responsibilities was to provide travel information about Hong Kong to sailors.

She said the Fenwick Pier is "a place of connection" between international and local people.

"Fenwick Pier is the first introduction sailors have to Asia because that is their first port of call. They have not stopped in Japan or other Asian countries," Lopez said.

But Fenwick Pier is long past its heyday in the 1960s and 70s when US sailors visiting Hong Kong landed at the pier before going to the bars in Wan Chai. Its popularity has subsided in recent years as fewer US navy ships visited the SAR after the handover.

The association has proposed a colocation plan this year to the Policy Innovation and Coordination Office to coexist with the fire station.

A spokesman said the association provides services including free local SIM cards and transport shuttles to sailors, who would also use the laundry services and storage lockers at the pier.

The association helps arrange security checks for visitors before they board a ship during a port call to ensure the safety of the pier, the sailors and its visitors, a spokesman said.

"If Fenwick Pier was demolished, our government will have to take up the role to serve international fleets visiting the city," the association spokesman added.

The association said the demand was justified as 12 percent more sailors visited Fenwick Pier in 2018 (8,688 sailors) than 2016 (7,790 sailors).

The development bureau said on September 4 that the colocation plan was highly undesirable and problematic. It cited the incompatibility between the two uses in a limited site area and the possible impact on fire station emergency operations, which would compromise public safety in the area.

It added that the government sees no strong policy reasons to continue to allocate the Fenwick Pier site to the association due to declining demand for its hospitality services, land scarcity and many visiting naval personnel chosing to use other facilities to disembark.

In spite of this, the association vowed to attempt a last-ditch effort to maintain the pier as it stands.